The Committee monitoring the implementation of the Saint-Denis Convention on safety, security and service at sport events held its first meeting on 14 and 15 April. To mark this milestone, the Council of Europe organised a Leadership dialogue on racism and hate speech at sports events. Opened by the Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Mr Bjørn Berge, the event allowed for a dynamic exchange of views between five persons with a broad experience and important responsibilities in this field. The key messages from the dialogue will help to shape the Council of Europe’s agenda to address racism, hate speech and other forms of discrimination at football and other sports events. This objective has been included in the Policy Strategy adopted by the Saint-Denis Committee at its first meeting.

The Saint-Denis Committee elected its Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson, as well as the Chairpersons of its three Advisory Groups (Monitoring; Standard-setting and Legal Issues; and International Cooperation). It also and adopted its Rules of Procedure and its Policy Strategy for 2021-2025. Among other decisions, the Committee further decided to establish an Ad Hoc Working Group on the Safety, Security and Service Preparations for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

Please see the list of decisions here.

The Standing Committee of the European Convention on Spectator Violence held its 50th meeting on 15th April, celebrating its 36 years of valuable activity. The T-RV elected its Chairperson and adopted a number of documents, including its revised Rules of Procedure.

The T-RV Ad Hoc Working Group on the Preparations for UEFA EURO 2020 held its 8th and last meeting before the competition. It enabled the exchange between hosting, participating and transit countries, UEFA, EUROPOL, European supporter organisations and other relevant stakeholders, on the final preparations for the tournament.

The Saint-Denis Convention is due to replace the 1985 Convention. States that ratify the new Convention must also denounce the old one. The Committees of both Conventions will most probably co-exist for a few years and they will meet back to back, twice a year. A Coordination Group was established to ensure that their respective activities mutually reinforce and align. Currently, there are 20 States Parties to the Saint-Denis Convention and 23 States Parties to the Spectator Violence Convention.